A biography of Letitia Bonaparte at this day is something of a novelty. In its original form as Napoleon's Moder , it was first published in 1898, and, on the authority of a Norwegian critic, we can say with confidence: "Clara Tschudi har formaset at skabeen bog, som til alle tidor vil vaeve underholdende, oplysende og opdragende;" which is to say, in plain English, that "Clara Tschudi has created a work which cannot fail to be entertaining, instructive, and edifying for all time." There are thirty one chapters to this ...
Read More
A biography of Letitia Bonaparte at this day is something of a novelty. In its original form as Napoleon's Moder , it was first published in 1898, and, on the authority of a Norwegian critic, we can say with confidence: "Clara Tschudi har formaset at skabeen bog, som til alle tidor vil vaeve underholdende, oplysende og opdragende;" which is to say, in plain English, that "Clara Tschudi has created a work which cannot fail to be entertaining, instructive, and edifying for all time." There are thirty one chapters to this truly "entertaining, instructive, and edifying" biography; also a colored portrait of the subject in her regal attire, a list of the authorities connected, a full table of contents, and no index. The typography is of the best English style, and the book, though large, is as easy to hold as it is pleasant to read. Madam Bonaparte was by birth Maria Letitia Ramolino. The year of her birth is uncertain, owing to the destruction of church registers in Corsica in the civil wars; but she was married at so early age that before she was nineteen she had brought four children into the world. She was a beautiful woman: ..".well formed and of medium height, with particularly pretty small hands and feet, which her son Napoleon inherited, and lovely teeth, in which all her children resembled her. She had sunny chestnut hair, a good forehead, long black eyelashes, shadowing, not large, but piercing eyes that lighted up the whole face, a fine, expressive mouth, and a slightly prominent chin that betokened energy and strength of will. Her nose was well formed and rather long, her ears small and pretty, while her every movement, her carriage and walk were characterized by inborn grace. [P. 3.] As a woman, wife, and mother, Letitia Bonaparte seems to have been all that this exterior could betoken, and in many ways she was far superior to her husband, who was selfish, visionary, ambitious, extravagant, and a fast liver. She had patience, fortitude, devotion. She followed the mingled fortunes of her famous son with true maternal pride and sympathy; and when her arduous life amidst the vicissitudes of European history in the early years of the present century came to an end, her body was borne back to rest in her Corsican home. There is pathos in her story, as well as the power of a great affection; and her qualities, her sacrifices, her achievements, furnish to the Napoleonic atmosphere a distinct element which is not always noticeable in the lines of her imperial son, but is made impressive in this volume. Many readers will be most occupied in searching the character of the mother for the seeds of the character of the son. Between the father and the mother the son is not hard to account for. An instructive study in the laws of heredity may be carried on by means of this interesting narrative. So far as Napoleon himself appears in its pages it is easy to see that the child was father of the man; but what is still more apparent is the fact that he was the son of Letitia. The law of pre-natal influence can seldom have a more striking attestation than it does in the fourth chapter of this volume. - The Literary World: A Monthly Review of Current Literature , Vol. 31 [1900]
Read Less
